OAKLAND, Calif. — Police bloodhounds were unable to detect the scent of a missing 5-year-old boy outside an upscale shoe store where his foster father says he last saw him, according to a police search warrant affidavit.

Police were mystified as to how Hasanni Campbell could have vanished Aug. 10 from a "crowded business district with no witnesses," said the document, which supported a warrant to search the home of the boy's foster father, Louis Ross, in Fremont.

Ross, the last known person to see Hasanni, said the boy disappeared after he briefly left the boy outside his car in the rear parking lot of a shoe store where Ross' fiancee, Jennifer Campbell, works. Ross said he went to the store's front entrance to ask Campbell to open the back door, but when he returned to the parking lot, Hasanni was gone.<snip>

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

The Oakland Tribune's Tammerlin Drummond complained in a piece yesterday that people weren't out searching for 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell, who allegedly went missing in Rockridge, suggesting that it was because the boy isn't white. Drummond also argued that there was no evidence to suspect Campbell's foster father was involved in the child's disappearance. But of course, there has been ample reason to suspect the foster father from early on in the case, and now there's even more. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, newly released court documents show that Louis Ross threatened to abandon the child just ten days before the boy supposedly went missing.

The Chron, quoting a police search warrant affidavit, reported that Ross had sent his fiancée an angry text message, threatening to leave the disabled boy by himself at a BART station. Ross has maintained he did nothing wrong, but KPIX TV also reported that Ross said he had failed a police lie-detector test. And the Associated Press reported that a police hound could not pick up the boy's scent in Rockridge.

But more to the point, people have been justified for the past week for not partaking in a massive search of the boy. Drummond compared Hasanni's disappearance to the case of Sandra Cantu who went missing in Tracy. But there is one major difference that explains people's reactions. There was never any question about Sandru's parents being involved in her disappearance, but from the beginning, police questioned Ross' version of events — and rightly so. Investigators searched his home and a junkyard that Ross said he took the boy to before going to Rockridge. Indeed, there is reason to question whether the little boy was ever in Rockridge the day Ross reported him missing. So why should people be blamed for not embarking on what could be a wild goose chase, when police themselves are not doing it?

— Robert GammonREADER COMMENTS

Editor's Note: Comments are not edited or fact-checked by the East Bay Express.

The issue is really that people should still be looking for him diligently, regardless of whether a caregiver/family member is involved or lying or whatever. If he's dead/murdered, he still deserves to be searched for and found.

The search for Sandra was widespread on the assumption that a stranger did it, but in the end that wasn't true. It was a family acquaintance and she was dead f/ the beginning, so essentially that was a "wild" chase as well.

Comment by khulac - August 21, 2009 @ 10:21 AM

ITA with the Reader Comment I have bolded in red. MuffyBee

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

Why did Ross NOT call from his cell phone to have his other half open the back door to the store ? Ross can sure send text messages pretty well. A simple phone call was not thought of..

People need to have an idea where to search.. Apparently the employee at the auto junk yard had seen the boy..Is Ross an auto mechanic ? An auto enthusiast ?Why was Ross at the junk yard ? What did he purchase ?

Anyway.It is apparent that the area where the boy went missing is very busy and it would have been hard for somebody to get away without being noticed at some point.

Is it possible that Ross wants people to focus and search for the boy because he believes that the boy can't be found ?

People in this area want to know one thing.. Where is Hassani ?The explanation given by Ross does not add up in local citizens minds..Why didn't somebody see him ? Are there ANY witness to the 2002 BMW driving in the driveway ? Police need to at least identify any witness who had seen Ross prior to Ross driving into that driveway.. What course of driving did Ross take just prior to the incident ? What witness to him driving his car with Hassani in it will show up ? I say traffic cams that sit on top of stop lights will give that answer and also surveillance video from any gas station or convenience store Ross may have stopped at..

First it has to be established that Hassani was in the car with Ross before anything and or any place can be searched..

WHY ? Because of many cases where parents have lied after committing atrocities towards there children in past history..Sorry Ross you are a victim of historical fact.

Why did Ross NOT call from his cell phone to have his other half open the back door to the store ? Ross can sure send text messages pretty well. A simple phone call was not thought of..

People need to have an idea where to search.. Apparently the employee at the auto junk yard had seen the boy..

Anyway.It is apparent that the area where the boy went missing is very busy and it would have been hard for somebody to get away without being noticed at some point.

Is it possible that Ross wants people to focus and search for the boy because he believes that the boy can't be found ?

People in this area want to know one thing.. Where is Hassani ?The explanation given by Ross does not add up in local citizens minds..Why didn't somebody see him ? Are there ANY witness to the 2002 BMW driving in the driveway ? Police need to at least identify any witness who had seen Ross prior to Ross driving into that driveway.. What course of driving did Ross take just prior to the incident ? What witness to him driving his car with Hassani in it will show up ? I say traffic cams that sit on top of stop lights will give that answer and also surveillance video from any gas station or convenience store Ross may have stopped at..

First it has to be established that Hassani was in the car with Ross before anything and or any place can be searched..

WHY ? Because of many cases where parents have lied after committing atrocities towards there children in past history..Sorry Ross you are a victim of historical fact.

It is self service, and that means you have to pay a fee to go inside, $2.00 each person. Once inside you have to find and pull your own parts.. WHO could the witnesses be ? As most of the time all employees are inside of the yard and not out in the parking lot.. So if he never got out of his car how did he ask anyone questions as to particular parts ?

I have been there ..The employees have no answers..You have to go look around for the vehicle yourself and look in it to see if parts are available.. Then you have to pull them off so you had better brought tools with you, as Pick Your Part does not loan tools.. Also how in the world would you bring Hassanni into that environment? The liability is on Pick Your Part if the child gets hurt ? .... ??????????????????? There are cameras all over that yard.. THIS is why police know he never got out of the vehicle.. The cameras must be the witness.Is it possible there was OTHER buisness going on in that parking lot ???? Ross?mo.

That last picture he looks very angry. Did anyone else notice that inthat article with him in the interview he kept referring to Hassani in the past tense. "Hassani 'did' like to play the guitar" etc. If he didn't do anything to Hassani he has apparently lost any hope of him being alive.

omg!!!!!! you guys this is not gonna turn out good at all...this is gonna end up being the foster dad..i just know it..did anyone notice the picture with the foster dad and foster mom sitting on the couch? it looked like she was scared to death. to me it looks like she is scared and she knows something is not right..she either really knows what happen the hassani or she thinks and feels like the foster dad did something to that poor little boy...i really don't know if i can personally take another very very bad outcome as we all did with little robert manwill..because when it was told what happen to him..it was all i could do to hold my head up i was so sick..i think i had a nervous break down..i might have to take a week or so away from the news..i don't know if i can handle anymore horrible stories about the children of our future being cut so short. i hope i am wrong about this whole foster dad...but i just feel very strongly he did it..i am praying i am wrong..

I agree, I think foster dad knows where Hassani is1. The dogs couldn't find any scent of him.2. He failed the Poly.3. No one has seen this little guy at all except Foster parents.4. She did look scared or guilty sitting on the couch.5. He has had lots of time to hide his remains, I don't think Hassani went missing the day they said he did.6. She won't take a poly and I don't think it has anything to do with baby.7. The tex that he sent to wifey dearest, and what is the bart?8. He must think that LE is stupid, they are not and are only starting to let him know.9. Her boss was not aware the kids where ever in the store and no one else has ever seen them there.10. All in All these people are lying through their teeth and I hope LE gets them soon. This sweet little guy did not deserve the life he has had.

OAKLAND, CA (KGO) -- Oakland police continue to ask for the public's help in finding a 5-year old disabled boy who was reported missing nearly two weeks ago.

It has been 11 days since Hasanni vanished. The balloons at an impromptu memorial are starting to deflate.

"We want to focus on Hasanni," his foster father Louis Ross said. Ross and his girlfriend Jennifer Campbell tell ABC7 the only thing they want is to have the 5-year-old back home. Campbell, who is Hasanni's aunt, says it was Ross who insisted on raising Hasanni and his 1-year-old sister. Authorities say the children's biological mother has drug and health problems. "Louis's parents died when he was younger, his aunt and uncle stepped in and raised him, he felt I should do the same thing," Campbell said. "I was upset with her, how could you let them sit there, you, yourself had mentors, you, yourself had your grandmother, how would you feel if you were in foster care," Ross said. Ross says he left Hasanni standing by the car alone for a few minutes in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood while he went around the corner into the shoe store where Campbell works. It was there Ross told police he last saw the boy. Ross reported Hasanni missing around 4:15 p.m., usually a busy time of day in the area. "People are shopping and they want to get their dinner ready, a lot of people are getting things done before they go home," one Rockridge resident said. The man, who did not want to be identified, lives in an apartment near the driveway. He says that particular day; part of the street was void of parked cars. "It was street sweep day, so half the street was shut down for no parking," he said. If the child was kidnapped, his abductor could have done it without witnesses. But the neighbor also says because of the limited parking, people were driving around looking for spaces. "It was much busier than normal," he said. There is a $10,000 reward for information that will bring Hasanni Campbell home. There will also be a fundraiser Saturday to raise money for the reward fund. Find Hasanni Campbell Reward Fundraiser12-3 p.m.Tone's Auto Detail411 West MacArthur BoulevardOakland

People with information on the case are asked to call the Oakland Police Department (510) 777-8572 or Crime Stoppers (510) 777-3211.

The above link also had a video about a fundraiser for finding the boy. If people wouldn't come to a vigil why would they give their money? I have no sound so I didn't watch the video.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hassani CampbellLouis Ross, the foster father of Hassani Campbell tells the media that he failed the polygraph test. Ross said, "they said I was 99% deceptive. That means I did not pass the control test questions, either."A statement submitted by Oakland police to justify obtaining a search warrant for Ross' home came to light on Thursday. The document stated that 10 days before the boy disappeared, Ross sent a text message that said, "This is f*****g over, I will watch her, but he will be out on the BART and its your responsibility to hey (sic) him so f*** you." (BART is the Bay Area Rapid Transit)

Ross told CBS5 in a video interview that he did not mean Hassani, he meant he was ending the relationship with Jennifer. Jennifer is Ross' fiancé and Hassani's Aunt.

The document also stated that Ross brandished a sword at Campbell, that he left Hassani and Hassani's one year old sister alone in the home while he went to the bank, and that he had some misgivings about caring for a disabled child.

Ross response was that the sword is ornamental, that he left the napping kids home for 5 minutes while he went to the bank, and that he never said he had misgivings about caring for a disabled child.

It was also noted in the documents that a neighbor said that they had not seen Hassani for 2 weeks.

On Thursday, police search dogs were unable to detect Hassani's scent in the parking lot of the shoe store.

"In any case we keep an open mind. Whether it's a missing persons case, whether it's a criminal case, in any type of case we try to keep an open mind and we try to cover all of our bases. And that's why the search warrant was done last week," said Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason.

I agree, I think foster dad knows where Hassani is1. The dogs couldn't find any scent of him.2. He failed the Poly.3. No one has seen this little guy at all except Foster parents.4. She did look scared or guilty sitting on the couch.5. He has had lots of time to hide his remains, I don't think Hassani went missing the day they said he did.6. She won't take a poly and I don't think it has anything to do with baby.7. The tex that he sent to wifey dearest, and what is the bart?8. He must think that LE is stupid, they are not and are only starting to let him know.9. Her boss was not aware the kids where ever in the store and no one else has ever seen them there.10. All in All these people are lying through their teeth and I hope LE gets them soon. This sweet little guy did not deserve the life he has had.

Mary -

The BART is the Bay Area Rapid Transit; it connects Oakland/East Bay area to San Franciso via an underground tunnel beneath the SF Bay / Bay Bridge.

The points you make all ring so very true . . . I tend to agree on all counts. Our country is becoming so weary of and desensitized by the onslaught of highly publicized cases of 'parents' crying wolf after they have done something irresponsible or heinous to their own children. It is despicable and wastes time and resources - and I think many are just saying "enough already" - thus the perceived lack of public support for this poor little guy. JMHO.

KTVU also learned that the boy's foster mother Jennifer Campbell arrived at the shoe store where she works sometime between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. on the day Hasanni went missing.

Additionally, two workers at an auto salvage yard in Hayward reported seeing Ross and Hasanni in the BMW that same morning.

<snipped

It would appear Hassani has been missing since 8/10/09, by this account.

Also I found this:http://**/breakingnews/ci_13045028<snipped>The FBI and police on Tuesday searched the Fremont home of 5-year-old Hassani Campbell, who his caregivers say vanished from behind a Rockridge district shoe store Monday afternoon. However, there haven't been any witnesses who saw the boy that day, police said. Authorities said the last time a witness saw the boy at the store was Aug. 6.<snipped>

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

Louis Ross said he left both children at home napping on August 10th while he went to the bank. He says he offered this information willingly to LE. I think he did that because he KNEW he would be seen on tape at a bank, and the children wouldn't be. Were they at home? Link to where he said he went to the bank and left children at home: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/20/BA9419BA1A.DTL

The two workers say they saw Hassani at Pick A Part on August 10th. Could they be mistaken? It was said a child was heard crying that day at Pick A Part. LE has said Hassani hasn't been seen in any videos that have been reviewed.

Thanks Muffy. It's possible the workers @ the auto yard saw the little girl in the car seat. I'm sure they have been questioned again. As others have pointed out, too many inconsistencies.

BBM

You are wondering the same thing I've been wondering. Could the workers be mistaken? Did Hassani even get out of the car? If Hassani was actually seen, was he crying? Injured and no one could tell? That was why I was wishing there was a video. I have also read a child was heard crying at Pick A Part. Which child was crying? Was it Hassani? Or little sister? Did Louis Ross get out of the car? If so, did he leave the children in the car and how long? Lots of questions. Sometimes it's hard to sort out some of the poorer reporting, the changing stories and then there is human error.

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan